Looking beyond the spin of Big Pharma PR. But encouraging gossip. Come in and confide, you know you want to! “I’ll publish right or wrong. Fools are my theme, let satire be my song.”
Email: jackfriday2011(at)hotmail.co.uk

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Desk bound AZ

AstraZeneca embargoes events and business travel following cuts

The pharmaceutical company – which has eight offices around the UK – has prohibited all "non-essential" overseas travel, C&IT has learned.

The news comes after the company reported a 19% slide in third-quarter sales for 2012, largely due to patent expiry issues.

Earlier this year, the company announced that it was axing 7,300 jobs globally by the end of 2014 in its latest round of cost savings. Among the staff leaving as part of the restructure are members of its conference team.

AstraZeneca global media assistant Karen Robinson confirmed the brand will be cutting the number of events it runs annually, but said that no specific event reduction targets have been put in place as they are organised by department.

"We have issued an embargo on non-essential meetings and travel worldwide and cut our UK office event staff from six to two," said Robinson, who also confirmed there will be fewer events at AstraZeneca, which means the use of fewer event companies and related services.

AstraZeneca has 61,000 staff worldwide, of whom 8,000 work in the UK, where its global headquarters are located in Paddington, London.

The company axed 12,600 positions between 2007 and 2009 and removed another 9,000 roles by the end of last year, when it closed its research and development site at Charnwood near Loughborough.

Subscribe To

Recent Posts

PharmaTweets

PharmaTweets

Email Subscriptions powered by FeedBlitz

Call me Jack

The term "PR" means something completely different to a medical doctor!
"We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid." -Benjamin Franklin.
"It takes a wise doctor to know when not to prescribe."
- Gracian.